Chương 80: Chapter 78

I cough, and it is not an elegant or discreet cough but one of those sudden, violent ones that rack your chest when the liquid decides to go down the wrong way because of the surprise. But even in the middle of the fit, a part of my mind finds relief in the thought that at least I haven't committed the ridiculous act of spitting out the tea, because that, in a hall full of nobles, would have been the kind of anecdote that follows a person for the rest of her life.

Fortunately, Xia reacts before I can even think about what to do with the cup I'm still holding, which is threatening to spill its contents all over my dress, and takes it from my hands with a quick, surprisingly graceful motion that I imagine is the product of Lianhua's training. Almost at the same time, Lianhua herself appears at my side with a handkerchief in the hand not holding the tray and an expression of concern on her face.

"Are you all right, Zhāohuán Wen?" she asks, offering me the handkerchief with a gesture that has just the right amount of urgency to be helpful without seeming alarming.

"Yes", I reply, taking the handkerchief and dabbing my mouth with as much dignity as I can muster after nearly drowning on a sip of tea.

"I just choked for a moment." When I finish cleaning up, I return the handkerchief to Lianhua, who makes it vanish somewhere within her clothing, and then I raise my gaze to Master Mu. And I see her standing there with the closed fan resting against her shoulder and a half-smile drawn on her face, a smile that tells me with absolute clarity that my reaction has amused her enormously and was probably the one she'd hoped to provoke.

"Master Mu", I say, and I notice my voice still carries a slight rasp from the coughing, which annoys me because it undermines the tone of seriousness I'm trying to give the question.

"Have you had to kill many people while you've been in the Empire?" The words come out with a hesitancy I can't help, because it's one thing to hear that someone is powerful and quite another to hear from her own mouth, with the same naturalness with which she might comment on the weather, that she kills people who bother her too much.

And as I formulate the question, something clicks in my head with the clarity of a puzzle piece snapping into place, and I finally understand why the manager of the Hall of Ten Thousand Talismans, Qi Sheng, was so nervous when she appeared and why no one in that hall dared to interrupt us. It wasn't just respect or simple courtesy toward a high-level foreign master or toward the Zhāohuán of the Empire. It was fear of what might happen if they did.

Master Mu looks at me, and the half-smile she's been wearing since I choked not only doesn't disappear but seems to grow firmer.

"Actually, I'm exaggerating", she tells me in a tone that sounds almost like an apology.

"I only said it to see what your reaction would be." She pauses very briefly, just long enough for the effect of her words to settle, then adds with an air of amusement "And you didn't disappoint." Hearing her, I open my mouth to protest, because the indignation I feel is genuine and, I believe, entirely justified. But before I can articulate a single syllable of the protest I'm mentally composing, Master Mu continues speaking without letting me respond.

"In truth I've only had to kill one person", she says, and her tone shifts slightly, losing its mocking lightness and acquiring something flatter, as though she were simply recounting something.

"And I had good reason to do it", she continues, one finger absently touching the side of her fan.

"It was a lecher who tried to drag me to his bed shortly after I arrived." I feel my eyebrows rise by reflex, but I don't interrupt, since it's clear that isn't the whole story.

"When I rejected him, he decided that a refusal was unacceptable for someone of his rank and attempted to ambush me to do it by force", Master Mu goes on in the same calm cadence, as though she were describing a minor incident at a market.

"So I had no choice but to kill him." She pauses for the briefest of moments and her smile returns, though this time it carries an edge it didn't have before.

"You have to deliver that sort of lesson from time to time", she tells me finally.

"So that anyone with similar plans will think better of carrying them out." A short silence falls over our small group after her words, and I take the opportunity to observe my companions' reactions. Lianhua wears an expression I've learned to recognize over the years: that face of contained disapproval she puts on when something makes her uncomfortable but she cannot express it openly.

Xia, for her part, seems to have shrunk slightly, as if she wanted to take up less space, holding the cup of tea she took from me earlier with both hands as though it were a shield. I, meanwhile, cough a couple more times, not because my throat is still bothering me but because I need a second to process what I've just heard before responding.

"Master Mu", I say at last in a tone I try to make as measured as possible given the circumstances.

"Don't you think telling this kind of story to a group that includes a ten-year-old girl and an even younger one is perhaps a bit much?" Master Mu listens, and her expression changes, not dramatically but perceptibly. Her smile fades and something emerges in her gaze, something far more serious that puts me on higher alert than any of her jokes.

"Child, you've lived protected by your handmaiden and your mother", she tells me, and her tone no longer holds a trace of its earlier lightness.

"But you're growing up now, and you'll likely be dealing with far more people than you've encountered so far." She pauses and her gaze moves briefly toward the crowd milling beyond the invisible barrier of the privacy talisman before settling on me again.

"When that happens, you'll hear about people who do what that man tried to do to me", she continues, the fan motionless against her shoulder.

"And about people who abuse their position to do that and things far worse." Something in her tone prevents me from interrupting, a weight that is not authoritarian but simply inevitable, like gravity.

"And that's considering that here, in the Empire, there are laws supposedly in place to protect people", she adds, and the nuance with which she pronounces those words does not escape me.

"Though there are always those who will twist and manipulate them to get around them." Master Mu stops for a moment, as though deciding whether to go on, and evidently decides she will.

"Outside the Empire it's even worse", she tells me, and now her voice has a quality I can't quite describe, like that of someone speaking from direct experience rather than theoretical knowledge.

"In many places only the law of the strongest prevails, and the one with the biggest fist is the one who makes the rules at any given moment." Another pause, and her gaze acquires a depth I find uncomfortable.

"Despite the fine words and the illusion of civilization that adorns everything, there always comes a moment when you can only depend on yourself and whatever power you possess", she finishes with a softness that contrasts with the harshness of what she's saying. I remain silent for a moment that stretches longer than I intend, because what she's said has struck me in a way I wasn't expecting.

And not because I didn't know any of this, since I'm perfectly aware that the world, whichever one it may be, can be anarchic and cruel, something I've even experienced firsthand in my previous life. It's because hearing it here, in this hall full of elegant, perfumed people, gives it a different weight. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Finally, I hesitate a moment before speaking as I search for the right words.

"Master Mu", I say carefully.

"Do you think this is a good place to have a conversation like this? We're supposed to be here simply to watch an auction." Master Mu blinks once, and it's curious how such a simple gesture seems to reset her expression entirely. The gravity that had enveloped her an instant ago dissolves and the familiar smile returns to her face as though it had never left.

"You're right", she concedes in a tone mixing acknowledgment with something that could be an apology if Master Mu were the type of person who apologizes.

"I got carried away, and it's true it's a conversation we perhaps shouldn't have had." I'm on the verge of sighing with relief when Master Mu turns slightly and her gaze sweeps the gathering of nobles populating the hall. She observes them for a moment with that expression of hers that looks casual but is almost certainly anything but, then turns back to me.

"But later, during the auction, you'll likely hear certain statements from some of those present", she tells me, her voice dropping barely a note. Here she pauses deliberately and finally adds "And when they're made, think about what I've told you." I open my mouth to ask what exactly she means, because her words have that cryptic quality that frustrates me so, when a door different from the main entrance opens at the far end of the hall.

Through it appears a man dressed in formal attire carrying a bronze bell in his hands, which he rings with a precise, practiced motion. The sound, clear and piercing, cuts through the hall's conversations like a knife and captures the attention of everyone present in an instant.

"Distinguished guests", he announces in a voice that fills the hall without needing to shout.

"The auction will commence shortly. We ask that you follow the handmaidens who will direct you to your assigned seats." Those present begin to move in response, the groups dissolving as people start walking toward the handmaidens who have appeared strategically positioned to guide the attendees. Master Mu looks at me and I immediately notice her expression has returned to its usual state: slightly amused.

"Time to move", she tells me, closing the fan with a fluid motion.

"Follow me. We have our own spot from which to watch the auction." I nod at her words, turn to Lianhua, and say "Then it's time to move." Lianhua nods and, before taking the handles of my chair, turns to Xia with a gesture that admits no delay. In a matter of seconds, Lianhua and Xia return the trays and the remains of the food to a handmaiden who had been waiting at a prudent distance, close enough to be useful but far enough to be outside the privacy talisman's effect.

Once their hands are free, Lianhua grips the chair and begins pushing me after Master Mu, who has already set off. Master Mu leads the way and, rather than following the crowd, heads toward a side of the hall, away from the door toward which the handmaidens are guiding people.

With her we approach a side door, which she opens without hesitation, as though she knows the building by heart, and through it we enter what turns out to be a narrow side corridor, less ornamented than the public areas and clearly designed for staff rather than guests. We follow the corridor for a stretch that feels rather long until we reach a set of stairs. Seeing them, Master Mu stops and her hand disappears into her sleeve.

What she produces this time is a talisman I recognize instantly, since it's the same type she used the last time we encountered stairs, and which I can now identify as a Minor Levitation Talisman. She presses it to the side of my chair with practiced ease and the effect is immediate. The talisman begins to glow and, a second later, the chair rises from the floor by a few centimeters, just enough for the wheels to leave the wood.

And as it happens, at my side I hear a small strangled sound that makes me turn my head, and when I do, I see Xia's face. Her expression is a sight to behold: eyes wide as saucers, mouth hanging open in surprise, and her body leaning slightly forward as though her brain can't decide between moving closer for a better look and backing away out of caution.

Lianhua, who already knows what to do because she's been through this before, takes hold of my chair without wasting a moment and begins pushing it up the stairs after Master Mu with the confidence of someone repeating a procedure already learned, even if in truth she's only done it once before. Although I stop watching her as we ascend, out of caution and not wanting the chair to tip, I know Xia is following us, and I can sense without needing to turn that she has a face full of questions she wants to ask.

Questions that would probably be the same ones I asked myself the first time, but to her credit, and likely thanks to Lianhua's training, she says nothing. We climb to the third floor of the building, and when we reach the top, Lianhua carefully pushes the chair downward until the wheels make contact with the wood again, after which the talisman's glow fades and it disintegrates into something resembling ash.

From there we continue along another corridor, this one somewhat wider than the last, until Master Mu finally stops before a door, opens it with a gesture, and invites us inside. What lies beyond is clearly a private box, and Lianhua pushes my chair inside followed by Xia, after which we approach the railing. The view draws from me a small sigh of admiration I don't bother to contain. Below us stretches an enormous hall, a space my mind can only describe as a cross between a theater and a fashion runway.

The stage has that elongated, narrow shape of a catwalk, flanked by rows of chairs carefully arranged at floor level. And along the walls, at various heights, I can make out several balconies that are clearly more boxes like ours, some already occupied by figures I can't distinguish in detail from here. It's impressive, and the part of me that still gets excited by the new things this world has to offer wants to keep looking for a good while, but Master Mu doesn't give me the time.

"The child would be better off sitting in one of those armchairs", she tells Lianhua, pointing with the closed fan at several armchairs strategically placed around the box, angled to offer a comfortable view of the stage without needing to lean over the railing. I look at the armchairs and then at my chair, and the truth is the armchairs, from here, look considerably more comfortable.

"She's right", I confirm with a nod.

"Lianhua, sit me in one of them." Lianhua takes me in her arms with that movement she has perfected after years of practice and deposits me in one of the armchairs with care. And I have to admit the armchair is very comfortable, the kind of comfort that wraps around you pleasantly and lets your body find a natural position without any adjustment. And if I had to find a fault with it, I'd only say it's too comfortable and might make me nod off if the auction turns out to be too dull.

After seeing me settle, Master Mu sits in the armchair right beside mine with an elegant motion, and the fan finally comes to rest on her lap.

"Sit down as well", she tells Lianhua and Xia with a gesture encompassing the remaining armchairs.

"There's no need for you to stand, and besides, you'd draw too much attention by being too visible from the other boxes." Lianhua nods and takes the armchair on the opposite side from Master Mu, then signals Xia with a gesture to sit beside her. Xia obeys without protest, though I see her eyes still roving over the box and the hall below with a curiosity that all the discipline in the world couldn't fully conceal.

Once we're all settled, Master Mu smiles and turns to me with an expression I know well: that of someone holding a hidden ace and savoring the moment before revealing it.

"I have a surprise for you", she tells me. And from her sleeve, because of course where else, she produces a sheaf of papers that she holds before me as one would present a gift, her smile widening.

"This is the list your half-brothers were after", she says in a tone brimming with contained satisfaction.

"And since you are my apprentice, you may look it over and see what's going to be auctioned." I arch an eyebrow at what is, without the slightest shadow of a doubt, a display of nepotism so brazen it doesn't even attempt to disguise itself as anything else.

Master Mu is giving me privileged access to information my half-brothers have been trying to obtain for weeks, the same information for which they were willing to swallow their pride and seek me out, and she's doing it with the same casualness with which she offered me the cakes a little while ago. But I don't refuse. Obviously. I'd have to be an idiot to turn down an advantage handed to me on a platter, especially when the platter is being held by someone like Master Mu.

I take the papers from her hands and begin scanning them. The list is organized in a clear, functional manner, with names that sound as though they were lifted from an epic poem, Fire Lotus, Tears of the Earth Dragon and Heart of the Shadow Wolf, each name accompanied by a description detailing its properties and uses. And as I read, the pieces begin fitting together in my mind with a clarity that helps me understand a great many things.

I know the requirements for the Harmonization of the Elemental Cores stage, the cultivation stage in which you need access to large quantities of elemental Qi to compress and attune your cores. And a large portion of the items on this list are resources that could be of enormous help at that stage for those cultivators fortunate or powerful enough to have reached it. Now I understand why my half-brothers wanted this list so badly.

With it in hand, they could plan exactly which items to focus their resources on and which to ignore, avoiding the risk of spending money on something mediocre when something better might come up later. It's exactly the strategic advantage I imagined when Master Mu first told me what she believed my half-brothers were after, but seeing it materialize as an actual list gives it a weight that before was only theoretical.

I keep scanning, passing from one evocative name to the next, from one promising description to another, until I reach a small section at the end of the list that differs from the rest. Four jade tablets containing techniques. I stop and look through them one by one, reading the descriptions with more attention than before, since techniques are clearly more interesting than materials that don't concern me yet, and this way I can see what other types of abilities exist in this world.

And then I read one in particular that makes my eyes halt on its description, and I reread it. Then I reread it again, because I want to make sure I'm understanding correctly what it says. And when I confirm that yes, I've understood the description correctly, I feel my inner geek ignite in my chest with an intensity that surprises even me. Because I want it.

I want it with all my might and with an urgency that is neither rational nor measured but visceral and absolute, even knowing I'll still have to wait a couple of years before I can learn it. And for the first time since we arrived at this building, the auction stops being something I'm watching as a spectator and becomes something very, very personal.